


The First Dance

by GrayceAdamsArchive



Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Dancing, Empty Hearse Spoilers, F/M, M/M, Missing Scene, Waltzing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-08 02:47:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1127455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrayceAdamsArchive/pseuds/GrayceAdamsArchive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’d thought it was hard when John had asked him to be his best man, to make a speech at the wedding. He’d thought it was hard enough to ask for help, for God’s sake. But this. This was something else entirely. </p><p>“I need to learn how to waltz,” John said.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Dance

**Author's Note:**

> This is the missing scene from Sherlock when Sherlock teaches John to dance (at least, my interpretation of it). Enjoy!

He’d thought it was hard when John had asked him to be his best man, to make a speech at the wedding. He’d thought it was hard enough to ask for help, for God’s sake. But this. This was something else entirely.

“I need to learn how to waltz,” John said, standing in the middle of 221b, his fingers twitching against his leg in that way that told Sherlock he was unbearably nervous.

“There are many capable dance teachers in London,” the detective said, scratching out another note on his music sheet. He’d finished John and Mary’s dance score yesterday, but he liked composing; sometimes it helped him think, others it kept him from doing so. More often, lately, he’d been going for the latter.

“Which charge upwards of fifty quid an hour,” John sighed, crossing the room to sit in the red armchair that used to be his. “Besides, you’re writing the damn song. You’ll know how to move to it better than any instructor in Britain. And I know you can dance, don’t deny it. I just need a couple of tips, so I don’t look like an idiot while Mary and I dance.”

“Head up, back straight, don’t step on her dress or toes,” Sherlock said, raising his violin to his chin again. “There’s your tips.”

“Practical tips, Sherlock,” John sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“Those were practical tips,” Sherlock retorted.

“Dammit, Sherlock, I need you to dance with me!” John barked, and Sherlock paused just as he set his bow to the strings.

“John, I….”

“Please, Sherlock. I don’t want to screw this up.”

Silence stretched between the two men, and finally Sherlock sighed and lowered his violin. He set it down and walked over to his laptop, hitting a few keys. A slow waltz that he’d recorded a couple weeks ago began to play over the speakers. He’d written it for John and Mary originally, but after listening, he’d found that it didn’t fit Mary well enough for him to use it for their first dance. But it would do very well for him and John. After the music began, Sherlock drew the curtains and held out his hand to John.

“Well, come on then,” the detective sighed impatiently when the doctor just stared at him. John scrambled out of his seat and stood in front of Sherlock, who grabbed his hands and arranged them properly. Sherlock ignored the flutter in his heartbeat as John gripped his shoulder firmly, the other hand linked with his own. “I’ll lead, at first,” Sherlock murmured, grabbing John’s waist, “to show you how.”

“Okay,” John nodded, staring at his feet. Sherlock sighed and tipped his chin up.

“Look her in the face. Try not to think too hard about your feet. Just step,” Sherlock instructed, firmly steering John around as the music looped. The doctor stumbled a bit, and the detective sighed, showing him the steps. “One, two, three, one, two, three,” he said, and after about half an hour, John could waltz in a simple circle. They ended up moving the coffee table and chairs back against the walls to make more room, and Sherlock corrected John’s posture and tried to school him out of looking at his feet.

“Don’t think,” Sherlock insisted. “Just move. Dancing is instinctual, to an extent. Move with your partner. Easy as breathing.” He spun John around the sitting room almost effortlessly, despite the fact that the doctor seemed about a half-step behind sometimes. They paused for tea and a breather after about an hour.

“Now, try to lead,” Sherlock said as they stood in front of each other again. “Hand on my hip, John.” The detective watched as John swallowed slightly, hand settling on Sherlock’s waist. Sherlock followed John as effortlessly as he could with the doctor’s halting lead, snapping at him when he tried to fall back into following Sherlock. Frustrated, John began to lead properly, if a little aggressively, spinning Sherlock round and round the sitting room to the sound of the violin music Sherlock had wrote for John and Mary but had fit John and Sherlock so much better.

“Better, John, much better!” Sherlock said when they came to a halt, both of them breathing a bit hard. “Little less gusto, though, remember, she’ll be in a dress.”   
“What? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know.”

“Once more,” Sherlock insisted. So John took Sherlock in his arms, and the waltzed around the living room. This dance began to feel charged about halfway through, and John’s hand slid from Sherlock’s waist to the small of his back, pulling the detective closer. Sherlock’s hand moved to the back of the doctor’s neck, their fingers intertwined and pulled close to their sides.

“Let me lead for a moment,” Sherlock said, taking control of the waltz and switching their holds. It brought their bodies closer together, front to front. They waltzed until only a few seconds were left in the song. “Now, the dip.”

“The dip?” John yelped as Sherlock bent, pushing him backwards until his head was close to the floor.

“You’re supposed to dip her, John.” Sherlock cocked an eyebrow as he held the doctor suspended. “It’s romantic, or something.”

“Let me up, Sherlock, you’re supposed to be playing Mary,” John growled, and the detective obliged. The song replayed, and John took the lead again, spinning Sherlock about in a way that the detective decided that he wouldn’t have danced with Mary. But he let John lead, and at the end of the forty second song, John dipped him, strong arms holding Sherlock securely.

“This is when you kiss her, John,” Sherlock said, his voice dropping an octave without his permission. His stomach fluttered with what most would call butterflies when John’s eyes darkened, licking his lips as he glanced down at Sherlock’s mouth. Sherlock felt his heart rate accelerate as John leaned in. Was he….would he? Sherlock’s eyes shut without consulting his brain, and something soft brushed over his mouth, light as the flutter of an eyelash.

And then John was straightening up, pulling Sherlock with him. The doctor stepped back, not looking at him, and all Sherlock could do was stare.

“Alright then. Thank you. See you...see you tomorrow, then.” John nodded, glancing at Sherlock’s face. The detective tried to keep his walls up, to not let anything slip through. But John must have seen something, because his pupils expanded, darkening his blue eyes, tongue darting out to wet his lips. John nodded again, and turned to leave the flat, back straight and marching like a soldier. Sherlock watched him go, staring at the empty doorway for several minutes after he’d left.

Then he shut off the song, picked up his violin and started trying to continue composing, while his and John's song would not leave his mind.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, John married Mary.

Sherlock composed for a while, and then took the sheet music for his and John’s song, tucked it in an envelope, and then folded that envelope up and put in in the skull on the mantel.

Tomorrow, he would give his best man’s speech at John’s wedding, and then play the song he had written for John and Mary for their first dance. John would have his happy ending, and Sherlock would have his memory of their own first dance, here in 221b.

**Author's Note:**

> So what did you think? :) Comments and kudos are love! <3


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